Fresno County foster kids were supposed to move to Clovis Campus week ago. Why the delay?
Fresno County is behind schedule in moving foster children under the county’s care to a new facility, and that delay could linger for several weeks, according to officials.
CAO Jean Rousseau said in October the county’s hardest to house foster children, who are temporarily staying at the old University Medical Center, would move to the county’s new Clovis Campus around Thanksgiving.
That has not happened.
The announcement came after The Fresno Bee reported in October that some of those foster children were left to sleep on yoga mats or tables, could not shower and were given unhealthy food while staying at the Child Protective Services office in downtown Fresno. The children often slept in rooms in the CPS office with lights that don’t turn off.
Officials said this week that the buildings in Clovis won’t be ready until the end of the month or perhaps in January. At least one social worker who was a whistle blower over the scandal says county workers weren’t originally supposed to move until the spring and still have not been given any guidance to prepare to move.
Social worker Lorraine Ramirez, who is a 20-year veteran of the Fresno County Department of Social Services, said employees were — prior to the public finding out about the conditions of foster children — told to expect to move in March at the earliest.
That move date came from Social Services Director Delfino Neira during an all-staff meeting in September, she said. Neira announced he’s leaving Dec. 10.
“When he came up with November, we were all, ‘What are you talking about?’” she said. “If you drive by the building, you can tell it’s not going to be done in November.”
Ramirez said a move of that size takes months of planning and employees have not been told to start packing or preparing to relocate. She’s moved offices before, she said.
“Since he made that announcement for November, there has not been one email,” she said. “Basically, there’s been no movement on a move.”
County spokesperson Sonja Dosti said officials are trying to prepare the Clovis Campus, which is on Peach Avenue between Ashlan and Dakota avenues, sooner than originally planned but the work is not complete.
Those facilities still need final construction work, furniture, power and “careful planning” to allow access, she said in an email.
“Even when completed, the facilities are designed for the immediate needs of foster youth while a placement is being arranged,” she said in the email. “They are not the long-term solution to house youth overnight or support the intense and/or multi-faceted needs of youth who may be difficult to place.”
Long-term success relies on getting more homes and facilities in the county who can take some of the most troubled children, officials have said.
In the meantime, the county is also at risk of being hit with civil penalties, because the UMC building is not licensed to hold children.
Move to UMC
Ramirez described the move from the CPS office to UMC as chaotic with security, computers, phones and other systems not in place when children moved in.
Officials have said bedding, staff, food service and an onsite pantry were an upgrade from the downtown office.
Social workers have demanded training and better compensation for the work they do in Fresno County. Ramirez said that training would include efforts to keep children and staffers safe.
The Department of Social Services has a stubbornly high turnover rate of more than 100% in the past four years, according to the local Service Employees International Union.
“The workers are doing the work, and it’s very frustrating when management is not able to address the issues,” Ramirez said.
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: The headline was changed to more accurately reflect the length of the delay.
